


The Star Primal

by avengethefruitfulbust (thicklipsanddiscohips)



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Star Primal, Startouch Elves (The Dragon Prince), Teaching, Theory/Speculation, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25501528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thicklipsanddiscohips/pseuds/avengethefruitfulbust
Summary: The last time Renata had visited this world, it was a time of peace. Sol Regem ruled the lands of Xadia, and the Human Kingdoms lived quietly among themselves in the western regions of the divide. Upon her return, she travels to the Storm Spire to visit her close friend, Zubeia, the now-Dragon Queen Regent to her son, Azymondius, to warn her of potential turmoil. There she finds a new group of humans and elves who had just achieved a great victory in battle; one of whom, Callum, finds an interest in learning the Star arcanum from her — a rare Startouch Elf — during her visit.The two explore each aspect of the Star primal: understanding probability, material possessions and temporal relationships, and the expansive reaches of time. Renata teaches Callum everything that he may need to know to face future encounters and settle unresolved affliction.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 6





	1. Probability

**Author's Note:**

> So… this story was actually inspired by my Aaravos lemon, lol. As I wrote the introduction to that piece, I thought to myself, “Damn, this setting would actually make a good-ass story for something else.” And here we are. Thank goodness for smut, amiright?
> 
> Oh, most importantly, this takes place like… right after S3E9. Now that we’ve gotten a sneak preview of _Through the Moon_ , we know that the gang travels back to Katolis after the battle.

It was the twilight of springtime in the lands of Xadia — blankets of flowers were just beginning to poke through the rich loam of the continent, and trees were beginning to regrow their leaves. Animals chittered about, gathering their loved ones from their long winter slumbers and collecting food for the days to come. This particular day was rather cool, and a breeze wafted budding pollen in swirls around the ground. A Startouch Elf strolled across the grass in the direction of Storm Spire. 

She had intentions to visit her long-time friend, Zubeia. It seemed to her that so much time had passed between their last encounter — Zubeia’s former mate, Avizandum, cried helplessly in the grass just ahead of her, frozen in time where he once stood. She wondered what could have happened, stopping to touch the stone-bearing scales of his foreleg momentarily before pressing forward toward the spire. The grass surrounding her now was well-worn with bootprints, arrows, and bloodstains marring its façade. She could tell this was recently a battleground, there was no doubt.

As she approached the base of the mountain, she felt a cautioning air envelope her shoulders. She stopped and closed her eyes, letting her hand rest on the rocky face of the ridge. She began to envision another potential battle in the forefront of her mind, but the premonition was too cloudy for her to properly perceive the faces, the voices, or the setting. There appeared to be mage, a young boy perhaps, a Moonshadow elf, and a child atop a dragon. There were other dragons in the sky, along with archdragons Sol Regem, Zubeia, and Rex Igneous. There was also… was that her? No, her robes were not that short. It was another Startouch Elf. Flames were engulfing the ground, and chaos agitated the forests. She opened her eyes and looked up to the clouds that shrouded the mountain’s peak. Her hand fell back to her side as she propelled herself skyward to her friend’s home.

Atop the peak, she found a red dragon snoozing quietly on the terrace next to the cave’s entrance. As she treaded forward, the dragon opened its eye and drew back its upper lip, revealing an intimidating snarl.

“Do not worry, friend,” the Startouch Elf said, reaching out to let it sniff her hand. “I am not here to harm you nor anyone inside.”

The dragon's teeth retracted as it saw the woman as no threat; it laid its head back down on its claws and closed its eyes once more. There was an approaching voice echoing within the entrance of the cave. A small human boy in red royal garments emerged from the entrance and looked up at her with wide eyes.

“Woah,” the boy exhaled. Without turning to whom he was speaking, he yelled, “Callum?!”

The Startouch Elf eagerly awaited the next face that came bounding round the corner. It was another human, in his teenage years she assumed, with the same royal red color cloaked by a blue jacket and a cross-over book slung around his torso. His eyes bulged bigger than the young one’s.

“Hello,” the Startouch Elf said warmly. She turned to the small boy. “My name is Renata. What is your name, young one?”

He swallowed his astonishment and replied, “Ezran. My brother, Callum, calls me Ez.”

Renata looked at Ezran, and then to Callum, and nodded. “Hello, Ezran. Hello, Callum. It's my pleasure to meet you.”

“H-H-Hi—“ Callum stammered. “You’re a — a real Startouch Elf? I’ve never seen a real Startouch Elf! Rayla?!”

By now, new faces appeared in the entrance of the cave, but Zubeia’s was not one of them. Renata looked at each of them, and smiled happily as they all greeted you in awe, however she felt it was urgent to talk with Zubeia as soon as she could; she couldn’t shake the feeling that a looming shadow would soon come for not only this lively group of children, but for Xadia.

After the Moonshadow Elf, Rayla, had greeted Renata a handsome young soldier named Soren began to introduce himself proudly but was cut off by the newcomer’s voice.

“I do apologize for interrupting you, Soren — as I’m sure you had much more to say — but I must ask if Zubeia is around at the moment. I feel it is imperative I speak with her.”

“Yes, she’s here,” Ezran said. “She’s in the den with Zym. Is everything alright?”

Renata nodded haphazardly and thanked him, stepping into the mouth of cave. She heard the young knight muttering a sour utterance before she approached the large flight of stairs. She stopped at the top of the steps and marveled at the sight in front of her: Zubeia was curled up next to a baby dragon, speaking quietly to it. In the nest next to the baby, a plump glow toad laid staunchly, comfortably sprawling its legs. Renata’s heart fluttered. That baby dragon was her child, her young. She wished desperately that she could have seen her best friend’s child being born.

Zubeia looked up at the sound of Renata’s footsteps treading lightly down the stairs. Her face lit up immediately as she quickly clambered to her haunches. 

“Renata!” Zubeia cried joyously.

Renata had made it halfway down the stairs when Zubeia head-butted her tenderly, nuzzling her scaly muzzle over her hands and face. Her musty scent was the same as she remembered, and her greetings were just as jubilant.

“Zubeia,” Renata said, “you haven’t aged a day, my dear friend!”

Zubeia chuckled as she pulled herself away from her old friend.

“Why have you come back?” she asked, composing herself. Her offspring bounced up the steps to greet the new face, to whom Renata knelt and let sniff at her hand.

The thin air in the den suddenly felt heavier. She heard the voices of the young friends slowly drifting back inside and stopping at the inner stoop of the foyer. The baby dragon heard them as well, for he bounded excitedly toward the commotion. Renata feared for the lives of these young individuals.

“I had initially only come for a visit, but I’m afraid I’ve seen more troubling times on your horizons, Zubeia,” Renata said, glancing over her shoulder. “However, I think we may need to table this for a more appropriate time.”

Zubeia nodded solemnly.

“I will head to the summit to collect my thoughts,” she continued. “Perhaps tonight we may sit down together and converse on the wellbeing of your comrades. The base of the mountain conveys a strong implication of battle, and I would hate to see something else happen to you. You’ll know where to find me when things settle down.”

She reached out to lovingly touch her friend’s snout. They smiled at one another before Renata turned and headed up to the crest of the mountain.

…

The afternoon brought a chill to the air, although slight weather changes do not affect a Startouch Elf as they would other elves and humans. The breeze encircled her and pulled her midnight hair to- and fro-. She sat upright with her arms folded on her crossed legs, her eyes closed lightly, and her fingertips modestly pressed in the formation of an oval at her pelvis. Her mind focused on the expansive possibilities — the maybes, or what-ifs — of the recurring vision regarding a catastrophic encounter with these new faces. 

Unbeknownst to her, a set of footsteps padded toward her and stopped to her left. A sketchbook fell gently on the ground; Callum lowered himself into a position mimicking hers. He inhaled deeply and exhaled just as distinctly, closing his eyes and trying to connect to this new primal source. 

A few minutes passed and Callum saw that she hadn’t noticed his presence. He cleared his throat and she opened one eye.

“Hello, Callum,” she said calmly. “Have you come to join me in meditation? Or are you looking to learn the Star arcanum?”

Callum opened his eyes and looked at her in bewilderment. 

“How do you know I wanted to learn the Star arcanum?” he questioned.

She giggled to herself and turned to him. “I suppose you’d want to know, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, leaning back on his arms. “Rayla told me that Startouch Elves are the rarest kind of elf with incredible abilities. I really want to learn every kind of primal magic I can, but I got a little discouraged knowing that I may never meet one of you. I just _feel_ like this is what I’m supposed to do, you know?”

The wind tugged at his scarf. He looked up to the scattered light in the waning atmosphere.

“But now I’ve met you! I mean, a Startouch Elf is sitting right next to me! How can I pass up the opportunity to learn from you?”

She watched the genuine emotion flow through him as he fought with the inner workings of destiny. The young boy was determined and willful, and she knew there was no way to convince him otherwise. Your visions showed you that he was capable of possessing an arcanum, controlling primal sources, so there was no reason to doubt his capabilities at this point in time.

She shifted her body to face him directly.

“Callum,” she began. He wore a look of hesitancy. “You are headstrong and tenacious; I believe you have the capacity to learn this prowess. But I must warn you: it is not an easy feat. Are you willing to accept that you may fail? That you may not be able to accomplish this goal of yours?”

He looked down for a moment and returned to hunching his torso over his crossed legs. After he collected his thoughts, he responded, “Do you really think it’s that difficult?”

Puzzled, Renata put her hand on his shoulder.

“No, Callum,” she said empathetically. “I need to know that you can accept this fate in your mind and in your heart. That there is a chance that you could fail, and there is a chance that you could succeed. You see, the Star arcanum —”

She paused to think of how to truly describe such an abstract concept.

“This arcanum is about comprehending probability, and understanding the mechanical constructs of a theoretical plane called ‘time.’ How humans and elves and dragons perceive time is relative to the rest of the universe — it’s merely a constraint that tethers living beings to the world you know and understand. There are other constraints of this world that cannot bind esoteric travelers, such as material possessions and beings we could not sacrifice if need be; this is difficult for most to understand, you see, for it is not easy to let go of things that are most precious to oneself. The extent of the cosmos is full of unpredictable yet natural occurrences, but with this arcanum, we Startouch Elves are able to foresee and overcome situations — times and places — that may jeopardize our wellbeing. Does this make sense so far?”

He broke from his blank stare to respond.  “So, it’s essentially about being able to understand time and to read the future so that it can save your life in a pinch?”

She shook her head and smiled. “I’m afraid it’s a bit more complicated than that, Callum... Let me try a simple probability game with you.”

He seemed rather displeased with how she had to oversimplify her explanation to a mere game. Nonetheless, he turned to face her and prepared himself for something challenging.

Renata's eyebrows wrinkled as she asked cautiously, “The Moonshadow Elf, Rayla — is she special to you?”

His face flushed with color as he nodded and replied with a meek, “Heh-yeah, is it that obvious?”

She smiled and tucked a fold of hair behind her ear.  “I give you the option to choose your destiny as you see fit, for it is unperturbed and unobstructed at the end of one of these paths.” 

She indicated with her hand three imaginary curving lines in front of him. The sun was beginning to set, and the crisp golden beams of light reflected off of Callum’s face, which was concentrated fully on the movements of Renata’s hands.

“One path leads to your love, Rayla, your passion, and your freedom; everything you could want is waiting for you. The other two roads lead to an unpleasant demise. I will give you the option to choose one path to follow at random. Which path do you choose out of the three?”

He was silent for a moment. His arms were crossed firmly and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“Is this a trick question?” he finally asked.

She shook her head. “No, simply choose a path. Suppose the path on my right is numbered the first, the middle is the second, and my leftmost is the third path. Which one do you think holds your immeasurable dreams?”

“Then, I’ll go with Path No. 2!” he said confidently. “Always go with the middle option.”

“Alright,” she said. “Now if I show you that the leftmost path was one of impending death and present you now with the opportunity to change your answer, would you accept my offer?”

“Uh… No?” he said, scratching his head. “Wait! Yes?”

“You have to be more confident in your answers, Callum,” she said, smiling. “Changing the path you originally chose would give you a higher chance at success. If you stick to your original answer, you’re limiting the availability of outcomes to only one.”

He clapped his hands to his cheeks. “I think I understand… But I don’t quite get why this is necessary."

Renata laughed contentedly at his confusion as she put her hands on his shoulders. “How about we call it a night, hmm?”

He looked at her disparagingly, and replied, “But there’s still so much to learn. We’re planning to travel back to Katolis tomorrow — Ez has to return to his duties as king.”

The mountain beneath the two rumbled softly. Renata looked up at the evening sky that was fading to dusk and knew that Zubeia’s timing was impeccable, as always.

“Alright, I will leave you for tonight with a paradox to think about,” she said as she rose to her feet. "Remember, the arcanum of the Stars relies on a fundamental comprehension of what is _most_ probable, what is material, and when is right."

She stretched out her hand to Callum to pull him up with her as they felt the vibrations of a five-ton dragon exit her den. Zubeia quickly flew up and around to the landing before the summit where she and Callum stood. Zubeia closed her wings and waited patiently for the conversation to conclude.

Renata turned back to Callum and said, “Before we depart, here is your paradox:

"You are discussing with your love, Rayla, that your sketchbook holds more value than her knives, as I’m sure you both hold your personal effects in high regards. She disagrees, and insists that her knives are of much higher value than your sketchbook. The two of you decide that in order to settle this, you will each give up the respective item to the other person, and whomever can go the longest amount of time without their item wins theirs back from the other while also keeping the wagered item.

”However you both have an equal chance to win or to lose, as both items hold the same value to each of you; these items are irreplaceable, I assume. If you gave up this sketchbook to Rayla—“ her eyes shifted down to the book’s cover now positioned around Callum’s waist “— you are losing the value the sketchbook holds to you. It is not as valuable to Rayla as it is to you, and the same logic applies to her knives. However if you win her knives and your sketchbook, you’ve succeeded in earning more value from her knives than you would have originally from possessing only your sketchbook. Because you both are able to see it from this view, this would create a paradox.”

Callum’s face scrunched up, but he said nothing. Renata put her arm around him and walked him down to the landing where Zubeia now stood and bid him farewell.

“I’ll be here tomorrow morning, Callum,” she said. “If you are willing to learn, I am willing to teach. It was certainly a delight to meet you today.”

He nodded and headed down below the cliff face. She turned to Zubeia and rested her hand on the dragon’s snout.

“Please, tell me what you’ve seen, my friend,” Zubeia said.


	2. Material

Zubeia quietly crawled back to her den, positioning herself around the spruce nest of flowers where her young slept soundly. As she lay, she nudged the baby dragon fondly, so happy that he had been returned to her. Despite her joy regarding the reunion of Zym, her friend’s recent words echoed in her mind.

_There was a dark mage I saw — two, rather. One was weakened but very powerful, resilient and eager for revenge. She is protective of the other, who is badly wounded, but still holding onto his breath. They seek to regain their strength before returning to the battlefield, but be cautious, there is another more ominous power behind them whose abilities greatly exceed theirs._

She rested her head on her forearms and closed her eyes, unable to sleep. The moon was high, and children all slept soundly out under the stars, blissfully content with the plan to journey back to Katolis at sunrise. Zubeia wished her mate could be here to protect them — to see them safely back to the boarder. Alas, he rested with the cosmos and it could not be helped; she knew that the fate of ending this war between the lands now rested with these children.

…

The breaking of the sunrise over the crest of the horizon awoke an anxious young mage in a hurry. Callum jumped up excitedly and shook Rayla’s shoulder, which was met with a low and sleepy grumble.

“What could you possibly need this early in the morning, Callum?” she questioned with a strained irritation in her voice. Her eyes hadn’t yet opened, and she had no intention to get up yet.

“Hey, Rayla,” he whispered, continuing to tap on her shoulder. “Remember how I asked you last night if we could… You know, leave the morning after, by chance? And then you said, ‘We need to get going; it’s a long way back to Katolis. Don’t make us take longer than we need to,’ and then I said, ‘I know, but when am I ever going to meet a—’”

Rayla snapped up straight with a face that resembled a glow toad’s. She was partially awake now, but not as cheery as Callum would have hoped.

“Callum!” she forcefully whispered back to him. She peaked through her peripheral over at Ezran and Soren, whom let Bait sleep sprawled on his armor through the night, to ensure they weren’t disturbing them this early in the morning. “I don’t care what we end up doing at this point — we’ll just make it back to the Breach to meet back up with your Aunt a day later. Just shut up and _never_ wake me up this early again.”

Callum, who initially was terrified of the creature he just awoke, grinned ear to ear and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“Thanks, Rayla,” he whispered. “You’re the best.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled at him, laying back down on her arm.

Callum stood and quickly fixed his hair and scarf as he ran up the steps to the summit. When he arrived, he saw Renata in the same position that she had been the night before: meditating just off the north face of the landing. However, there was a small black bird with a long golden tail sitting on her right shoulder this morning, who silently watched the sun climb up across the clouds. He walked over to her and took his spot on her left, wondering if she would notice him before the bird. Surprisingly she opened her eyes and tilted her head toward him. The bird peered over her neck with wide yellow eyes.

“Good morning, Callum,” she said. “Are you ready to learn?”

Callum crossed his legs and rested his forearms on his lap. “Uh… yes, I am! Who’s your bird friend?”

She leaned back and scratched its chin lovingly. It cooed softly at the attention and adjusted its wings. Callum saw that there were golden feathers dusted throughout the underside of its wings. 

“This is Joanna,” she said. “She’s a golden-tailed night raven. You could call her my familiar, I suppose. She journeys throughout Xadia while I travel the cosmos and tells me about what she sees upon my return.”

Callum fumbled around for his rune cube, but realized he left it with Rayla and the others.

“Is she connected to a primal source? Does she have the Star arcanum too?” Callum asked, not wanting to run back down to the terrace just to get the cube.

Renata shook her head. “No, Joanna holds the energy of the Sun within her. If you want to be specific, the Sun is a star… Just a very particular star that creatures here can draw a different energy and life from.”

Callum pondered on this for a minute. He guessed he’d never really thought of the Sun as another Star before. 

“So, as a Startouch Elf, are you able to draw energy from the Sun?”

She shook her head again. “No, not the kind of power you think of when you see Sunfire Elf magic.”

He looked down at his hands momentarily and then straightened his back. “Alright, I’m ready to learn the Star arcanum now. I think I have the whole day today too! Is that okay with you?”

Renata nodded and turned herself toward him. “Yes, that’s good to hear. Did you think about the paradox I gave you yesterday?”

Callum slouched slightly at this. “I did. You said that the Star arcanum relies on what is ‘ _most_ probable, what is material, and when is right.’ Well, from the situation you gave me, the probability of winning or losing our items to each other was 50/50, right? The only way to change those odds would have been to choose a different game to settle our score, or work things out some other way — well there’s a lot of different options.

“But our possessions — my sketchbook and her knives — are material belongings. You also said that Startouch Elves don’t need material belongings or personal connections to tie them down to this world. If I really wanted to learn this arcanum… I would have to be willing to sacrifice both Rayla and my sketchbook along with Ez, Zym, Amaya, and everyone I’ve ever cared about wouldn’t I?”

Renata looked at Callum and rested her head on her arm propped up by her thigh. 

“Callum, have you ever lost someone dear to you?”

His eyes darkened as he lowered his head. He didn’t have to say anything for her to understand his pain.

“It is not easy facing loss,” she said quietly. “No sentient being can elude the anguish that accompanies death. It is the memory and the legacy of those we lost that carries on throughout the remainder of time. You needn’t sacrifice anything or anyone, Callum; no one needs to endure such misery. I ask you visualize the concept of potentially losing someone dear to you tomorrow, and being able to carry on steadily with their memory, their spirit, and their heart inside you for the rest of your life.”

Callum was fighting back tears as she spoke. His mind was beginning to flood with memories of King Harrow, and of his mother. She spoke with such a humble empathy that he regretted not seeing his stepfather as his own father in the time that he had with him. He remembered his stepfather’s last words scrawled on that parchment and felt ashamed that he couldn’t be there with him until the end. But he knew that he did the right thing, coming to Xadia and returning Azymondius to his mother. There was nothing he could have done to change the King’s fate.

She paused for a moment, letting Callum collect his thoughts. She stroked Joanna’s chest and let her nuzzle at her fingertips. After a few moments of silence, Renata spoke once more.

“As for the probability portion of the paradox I gave you, I would say that you are very intuitive to come to that conclusion, Callum.” 

Her voice was kind and her eyes reflected gratification in his initial answer. She was impressed at his deductive reasoning, although he still seemed a little unconfident. Callum looked up at her and quickly wiped a tear from the edge of his waterline with the back of his hand.

“You are right to some extent. You see how your choice to go into the situation caused your odds to split evenly between the two of you. However, in accepting that chance, you then split each of your odds further into either 0/100 or 100/0, for you could have won both of your valuable items, or she could have won yours. With this arcanum, you have the instinct to distinguish between the most probable outcome of an encounter and one that is less likely.”

He nodded slightly, and said, “Yeah… Thanks. That makes sense.”

Renata cocked her head slightly. It seemed as though he was still preoccupied with his loss, which appeared to be very recent, and he had yet to come to terms with the events that transpired. She turned to look at Joanna, who consequently, looked at her. She wondered whether he simply needed time to truly accept his loss, or if she needed to help him see the futility of everlasting grief.

“Callum?” she prodded gently, turning back to him.

He looked up at her and started piecing together a thought. “I’m sorry, it’s just that — well, my stepdad… and my mom…”

“Callum, I apologize if this is difficult for you; it seems your stepfather and mother recently passed. I am sincerely sorry for your loss.” she said, reaching out her hand to him. She grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. She paused briefly before continuing.

“May I show you something? I think it may help you understand the merit of this notion.”

His somber expression submitted to an inkling of curiosity. “Show me something?”

Renata began to stand, pulling him up with her by his hand; he reciprocated and dusted off his pants as he rose. She turned toward the ledge and reached a finger up to Joanna. The bird hopped on her finger and flapped her wings as Renata stretched her arm over the cliff face. Renata cast her arm up and let Joanna soar off across the colorful sky.

Puzzled, Callum asked, “Why’d you let her fly away?”

She watched the bird as it dove down and circled the mountain, finally dipping under the clouds just below them.

“Unfortunately, she cannot come on this journey with us,” Renata responded, turning back to Callum. “She is a threat to the spell I have created for myself.”

Callum grew wary of her intentions. “W-wait… What kind of journey are you taking me on?”

Renata chuckled. She raised her finger and replied, “We Startouch Elves have seen many parts of this universe, and our lives are much longer than others. Fortunately, I have been curious enough to explore the side of Star magic that bends space around time, although I cannot say I have perfected it.”

He inhaled sharply and let out a long sigh. “Should I tell Rayla and Ez that we won’t be leaving tomorrow morning? Or… That I won’t be coming home?”

“Nonsense,” she said heartily. “We will only be gone a matter of minutes. Perhaps this journey will also teach you about the innate, yet relative passage of time.”

Callum readied himself for what was about to come. She reached down and grabbed his hand, tightly interlocking their unsymmetrical fingers. She tilted her head down to him and gave him an assuring smile. She reached out her hand and began drawing an indigo rune that he had never seen before. Renata took a deep breath and said the accompanying words:

“ _Vitae vide_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more info on the initial scenario Renata presented to Callum as well as the paradox, see the 'Monty Hall Problem' and the 'Two Envelopes/Necktie Paradox.'


	3. Time: Pt. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Renata and Callum travel through the plane of time to fond memory of Renata's. There, Callum sees her interactions with an old friend that took place many, many years ago in a city called Elarion; the two follow a younger Renata through her travels in this time. Meanwhile, Rayla finds Callum's body in a surprising state._

Rayla awoke once again as the sun cast light on the terrace. She sat up cheerfully and looked over at Ezran and Soren. Bait now rested on his back in between the two of them, spreading his stumpy legs as far as he could. She stretched her arms as she stood, letting go of her last yawn, and began to wake the boys for the day.

“Ezran, Soren, get up, sleepyheads. It’s time to get going,” she said, nudging each of them with her foot.

Ezran shifted and grumbled. Soren lay motionless, still snoring away.

Rayla rolled her eyes and looked down at where Callum slept next to her last night. She vaguely recalled having a conversation with him this morning about when they planned to leave, but her mind was still fuzzy from waking up. She thought they agreed the night before that they would leave tomorrow instead, but she wasn’t entirely sure. She looked up to the pinnacle and remembered the Startouch Elf that taught him a riddle or something that he was talking about the night prior. She decided to head to the summit to see if Callum was still talking with that woman.

As she approached the upper landing, she saw Callum and the Startouch Elf standing in front of the cliff face, holding hands. Her face puckered, but she continued walking toward them.

“Hey, Callum,” she called out to him. “Sorry to interrupt, but can you tell me again when you wanted to head back to Katolis? Was it later today or tomorrow morning?”

Neither of them responded. She tried again.

“Callum, can you hear me?”

As she neared the two, she reached out her hand to touch Callum’s shoulder, but her hand did not stop where she had intended it to — it passed through what appeared to be Callum’s shoulder and exited what appeared to be his shoulder blade. Rayla gasped and retracted her hand quickly. She stepped backward as she felt her heart beginning to beat faster.

“Callum?”

…

The sky was dark and rain threatened to sprinkle the dirt ground. There were cheerful people carrying goods through eerie streets, some stopping at market stands here and there. Homes were stacked on top of one another such that citizens could hang laundry out their windows on lines to create a crisscrossing pattern of clothing throughout the town. It was noisy here, for the bustling people wanted to make sure their shopping was done and their laundry was taken care of before the storm rolled in.

Callum looked around at the faces as they passed, trying to comprehend where he was. He looked down at his hand, which still held Renata’s. She was looking up to the sky as the storm clouds rolled westward.

“Where are we?”

“We are in Elarion,” she responded without breaking from her gaze at the sky. “Many, many years ago.”

After a moment, she let go of his hand and looked down to him. She wasn’t surprised at his confused expression, for Elarion now only existed as a figment of a historian’s imagination.

“Come, Callum,” she said just audibly enough for Callum to hear over the lively people. She motioned for him to follow her. “I’d like you to meet someone.”

Callum tried to dodge civilians as he followed Renata through the crowd, but it soon registered that he didn’t need to be polite; he was able to move through the bodies as they passed. Excited by this newfound ability, he began flailing his arms and legs through the crowds, watching the unaware faces of the people pass him by.

The masses died down as they exited the streets of the marketplace, and they soon approached a three-way intersection that cut off at a wide-open field of grass. Renata turned left at the fork and stayed close to the edge of the road separating the field from the dirt path. It was here that Callum broke the silence.

“So, what is Elarion? I’ve never heard of this place.”

Renata continued to walk quietly, but folded her hands in front of her. Callum gave up on an answer after an awkwardly hushed few seconds passed. After a few meters, she suddenly cut off into the grass and headed southeast. Callum followed and squinted at a house ahead of where she was going. It was backed up against a tree line, and the last home before the mountain range submitted to the sea. There were lights on, and the outlines of people inside grew more visible as they got closer.

Raindrops started to wet the grass; Callum loved the smell of fresh rain. When they reached the house, Renata stopped about four meters away from the back porch and looked up at the northern sky. She finally spoke.

“Look to the clouds in the north, Callum,” she said, pointing up at a slight break in the clouds.

Callum followed her gaze and saw nothing out of the ordinary, until a sudden shot of light streaked across the sky and crashed into the woods adjacent to where they stood. Surprised, Callum assumed he witnessed a shooting star burning up and landing just next to them. He took a few steps toward the trees when the back door of the house opened and a little girl around Ezran’s age came dashing out, charging straight to the landing site of the meteorite. Renata followed the girl, and Callum trailed behind.

The little girl approached the sizable crater cautiously, but with an unwavering confidence. Upon seeing the landing site for himself, Callum realized that it wasn’t a random meteorite or space debris — it was Renata, or a memory of herself rather. She looked younger, and was wearing different robes. They were singed slightly around the edges from her entrance into the atmosphere, but otherwise surprisingly intact.

The memory of Renata climbed out of the rift gingerly and was startled by the presence of the young human watching her closely.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” the little girl asked her, concern strewn over her face.

She held her hands out to the mysterious creature that fell from the skies. Renata, confused at why this little human girl’s first reaction was so kindhearted, took her small hands in her own and knelt to her eye line. The little girl’s unkempt dark brown hair shaped her round face that was peppered with freckles. She had a fire in her eyes that Renata couldn't place.

“I am just fine, young one. What is your name?”

The look of worry subsided from her face. “My name’s Joan. Do you have a name? Why did you come from the clouds? And why do you look like the night sky?”

She laughed softly at this. “Yes, my name is Renata. I am a Startouch Elf; we Startouch Elves all have different constellations marking our bodies.”

She stroked her forearm and let Joan touch the shimmering features of her skin.

“I came back here, to Earth, from a journey I took through the cosmos. I do not intend to stay long, but I —”

“Why not?!” Joan blurted. “I want to learn about you and about the stars! I’ve never seen anyone like you before. I watch the sky every night and I see how they change. Can you not stay and teach me about them?”

Renata looked at the determination in the girl’s face and smiled sincerely. From deep in her heart, from this moment on, Renata cherished this girl’s spirit as an extension of her own. She treasured this girl's life and wanted nothing more than to watch her grow into a beautiful young woman and love herself and her choices; she knew that she wanted to be beside her through everything. She knew that this girl would one day make a difference in the world.

Callum looked over at the older Renata, who stood holding her hands clasped against her chest.

“So, why did you bring me here? What does this girl mean to you?” he asked in a hushed voice as politely as he could manage.

She broke away from the images of the memory to look at him. “She was my world, Callum. I grew to adore her dearly, for she had such a curious mind and such a kind soul.”

He looked back at Joan and the younger Renata, who were now embracing. The rain began to fall harder now and its scent on the trees and wooded scenery around them felt so real to him. He understood why this memory was so tender to her.

“We spent a few weeks together —” she began, waving her arm through the air.

The scenery around them shifted twenty meters southeast, to the grassy field outside of the house. It was suddenly nighttime and the smell of rain had dissipated. There were thousands of stars lighting the night sky. The memory of Renata stood with Joan, constructing an arrangement of lenses and mirrors encased in a tube so that she could view the night sky magnified tenfold from where she stood. Joan was so happy.

“Until I made a mistake that cost me her life.”

Renata whispered something into Joan’s ear and floated off into the night sky. Her wide eyes watched Renata disappear, burn in the upper atmosphere, and disappear once more into the stars. It was the last interaction she'd have with Joan for many decades.

Renata watched herself leave the little girl and bowed her head in shame. This was the part of the memory that she could never bear to watch further. She could never look at Joan’s face as she departed, nor could she stay in the memory to watch how she waited for her return — the thought of Joan’s constant anticipation, her anguish, and then her acceptance.

Renatta moved her hand through the air once again to wave this place and time from her view. She and Callum now stood on the beach of a distant planet, lush with warmth from the star it revolved around. The shore was more rocky rather than soft and sandy, but was glimmering with shells, stones, and minerals; the clear water that ravaged the rocks washed up a handful of ocean life with each wave.

“Gyuah!” Callum exclaimed, trying to jump out of the way of the large flux of water and kelp-like plants. He quickly realized that he couldn’t be splashed by the water. “Hey, Renata, why are the waves so big? What is this place? This doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen in Xadia or the Human Kingdoms.”

She chuckled and said, “I would certainly hope you have never seen this place before. This is a rocky water-rich planet on the outer rim of a small dwarf galaxy, roughly 23,000 lightyears from home. It took me about two-and-a-half weeks to arrive here from that last memory you saw.”

Callum’s heart dropped — he couldn’t believe he was standing on another planet! Well, not technically, but he nonetheless was astonished at the mere concept of it. Until he started his journey with Ez and Rayla, he had never even been outside of the Human Kingdoms.

“This planet has two moons,” she said as he composed himself. She pointed to the outline of a thin waxing crescent with a similar, yet smaller, outline right beside it. “That is why the tides are much different than those on Earth. However, despite the differences, this world is very similar to Xadia — look around you.”

Callum looked behind him at a vast open flatland with a mountain range in the distance. There wasn’t much to look at other than the rocky beach, the roaring ocean, and the horizon in all directions. Far off on the ocean was a large wave that was amassing, but nothing else was visible for many kilometers.

“I don’t really see anything,” he said, shading his eyes and squinting off toward the ridge. “Oh! Maybe…”

He reached into his backpack and pulled out the rune cube; the Ocean rune flickered irregularly. Callum looked at it, dumbfounded.

“How can the Ocean rune possibly reach this far from Earth?”

“It doesn’t,” Renata said. “That neat toy you have is detecting the Nitrogen-rich atmosphere and dirt, the water, the life. There is magic here, Callum. It is very similar to that which which have on Earth: there is a central star, a red dwarf, but a star nonetheless; there are moons, there are oceans, dirt and rocks, and a dependable breeze that can call upon storm clouds. I have yet to see any animals residing here, but I hope there may be some in our current time. Perhaps they possess another essence of magic that we do not yet know of.”

Callum held the rune cube in his hands, turning it over and over, each time stopping at the flickering Ocean rune. He wanted to sit down and sketch what he saw in this world, but he knew he'd have to wait until they returned to their time.

A loud splash just meters away from them surged a large wave across the roaring waters and broke his thoughts. He looked up to see a trail of smoke emerging from the a large patch of bubbles in the water and younger Renata dragging her soggy gowns from the ocean onto the shore.

“Oh yeah, why did we come here?” Callum asked, finally tucking the cube away in his backpack.

Renata watched herself search the rocky shores for a precious treasure she had once found.

“I had remembered once finding something here, but I never thought that I would have a use for it. Naturally, I only kept this item until I learned what power it possessed, and then replaced it to its rightful niche here on the shore while I explored the rest of this planet.”

The memory of Renata bent down and picked up a small stone that sparkled like topaz in the red star’s fervent light. She held it up to the sky between her thumb and forefinger and drew a rune in the air before it while whispering something to herself. The stone glowed brightly for a few seconds, and then stopped. Renata rejoiced and said, ‘Joan, I’m coming home.’ She took off toward the sky once again, vanishing as quickly as she came.

Renata walked toward where she once stood and knelt before the small patch of stones that sparkled like topaz. Callum followed and knelt beside her. The stones were beautiful — he wanted to take one back for Rayla, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold them.

“I named this mineral zireon when I found it once in another dwarf galaxy much farther from here. I was excited to find it on this planet when I first came here years prior to these events, as I hadn't quite figured out what was so special about it. I stayed on this world until I fully deciphered the potential it possessed.

“You see, this particular stone has the incredible ability to shield itself from, what I understood as, any primal magic attack on this planet — a self defense mechanism, if you will. I thought it may work on Earth, so I wanted to give Joan a shard of this for her next birthday, which was a month from when you last saw us. I knew that I risked missing it, for the fastest I can travel within the reaches of space is one lightyear in the span of one minute. I thought that if I pushed myself harder, I could make it back before she turned ten…”

She trailed off. Her transparent fingers circled around the shining stones peaking through the jagged rocks of the shore, but she never finished her thought. Callum looked over at her. Her dark hair obscured her expression, but he could nevertheless tell that she didn’t want to revisit the next memory.

“We don’t have to —” Callum started, lifting his hand to place on her back.

She quickly stood up and brushed her wrist across her eye. She reached her hand down to his, which he hesitantly took. “Come, we must finish this tale of time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a story... within a story! Inception.


	4. Time: Pt. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Callum watches the remainder of Renata's story unfold as he's faced with the realization of what it all means. She has granted him very humbling and worthy truths of the Star Primal; she only hopes now that he takes her lessons in stride._

“Zubeia, Zubeia! Wake up! Callum’s in trouble!”

Zubeia opened her eyes slowly to see Rayla waving her arms above her head. Zym was running in circles around her feet, excited from the commotion. She raised her head slowly and blinked her eyes to clear away the fogginess from a lack of sleep.

“What is it, child?” she asked calmly.

Rayla settled down and caught her breath. “Zubeia, that woman you’re friends with… I think she may have done something to Callum.”

Zubeia immediately perked up at this remark. “Renata? There’s no way; she’s a kind soul and a good friend of mine.”

“Zubeia, you’ve got to believe me — come up to the top of the mountain and see for yourself!”

Rayla started backing up towards the stairs and turned to hasten into a sprint. Zym quickly took off with her and briefly paused to wait for his mother. Zubeia lifted herself up and dragged herself out of the cave entrance after them.

Zubeia’s exit from her den abruptly awoke Ez and Soren, and startled Bait awake so quickly he jumped into Soren’s arms for protection. They crawled out of her way as she turned the corner of the terrace toward the summit.

“Well, I guess someone woke up on the wrong side of the rock,” Soren told Ezran with a goofy grin. He and Bait didn’t find Soren’s pitiful early-morning humor too amusing.

As Rayla climbed the last step to the second plateau of the peak, Rayla stopped. She squinted at the two of them through the morning sunlight and saw that they were no longer frozen in place holding hands: Callum was reaching out to Renata to offer her a hug. Renata held up her hand to him politely, but Callum hugged her anyway. Rayla took a few steps toward them, which Renata noticed over Callum’s embrace.

“Good morning, Rayla,” she said. 

She looked behind her at Zubeia’s large wings steadying herself as she moved up to the platform behind Rayla; her baby flew around beside Rayla, trying to piece together what was going on. Ezran, Soren, and Bait began making their way up to the peak as well.

“What is going on, Rayla?” Zubeia asked, looking at Callum now breaking away from Renata.

“B-but —“ she stammered, nervously trying to understand what she saw. “They were just —”

“Hey, it’s okay, Rayla,” Callum said gently. He was now walking toward her reaching out his hand to reassure her that he was on her side. “Everything’s fine.”

…

It was the dead of winter now. Snow swept through the cloudy evening skies and buffeted the bare trees in a forceful current. No creatures dared perturb the rising blankets of snow, and the sun dared not challenge the storm that raged through the lands. The only promise of warmth arose from within the chimneys of neighboring residents’ dwellings.

Renata and Callum treaded lightly through the thick snow which bore no inconvenience to their cosmic bodies. Emerging from the woods where Renata first met Joan, they approached the same house that they had previously visited, however the house wore a slightly different appearance. It looked older and more well-worn, even through the thick spirals of snow. The golden lights inside were dim and cast ghostly shadows on the walls. Callum was reluctant to see what awaited them here, for whatever it was left a scar on Renata’s past. He felt awkward being the first to break the silence once again.

“Are you… already inside?”

“No,” she responded without giving him her eye contact. “But I will be here momentarily.”

When they approached the back steps of the small house, Callum stopped to see if Renata would simply walk through the door, or if she still had to open it. She also paused at the door and took a deep breath of the winter air. She turned to look up at the sky just as a familiar flash of light streaked through the clouds and landed in the grassy field about twenty meters northwest of them. Callum turned to watch as her younger self struggled to quickly climb out of the hole she created.

Callum turned back to Renata and saw her walk through the door and into the dim light. As he was about to follow her lead, a face appeared in the window beside him. It was a woman with long dark brown hair, curious eyes, and freckles lining her strong cheekbones. He could hear her calling out to someone in the house about Renata’s appearance. 

Callum quickly ran inside and maneuvered through the rooms to find his Renata. After poking his head into two rooms, he found her in one near the front of the house, standing at the foot of a bed with an old woman resting soundly in it. Next to her was an elegant wooden nightstand with a mortar containing various herbs and medicinal roots. On the opposite side of the room, a gold and black bird sat perched on a curved pedestal; its tail emitted the light that illuminated this room.

“Is that —” Callum whispered to Renata, pointing to the bird.

She nodded. Callum felt himself starting to piece her story together when the woman from the window rounded the corner of the bedroom’s doorframe and walked over to the bed.

“Mom, she’s coming,” the woman said softly. “Are you sure you want to see her?”

The old woman shifted slowly and eventually pulled herself upright.

“I owe it to myself to see her one last time,” she replied. Her voice was steady, but it was obvious that she didn’t have very much strength left in her body.

There were two distinct knocks on the back door.

“Alright,” the daughter said quietly. “If you think that’s best.”

She went back to the door to greet Renata. Callum peeked out of the bedroom to try and catch some of their interaction.

“You must be Renata,” the daughter said as Renata’s younger face appeared in the doorway.

From what Callum could see, she looked confused as to whom this person was. It was clear she resembled her dear friend in some way, but this woman wasn’t Joan — she couldn’t be…

“Yes… I’m looking —”

“Of course, come in, she’s waiting for you,” the woman said, stretching out her arm and stepping aside.

Renata stepped past her welcoming arm and waited for the woman to close the door before continuing down the hallway. Callum turned back to the old woman in the bed; her hands were shaking slightly from her degenerative age. She looked up as Renata, followed by her daughter, entered the room. Callum watched Renata’s expressionless face as she slowly walked over to the side of the bed and collapsed to her knees. There were tears welling in her eyes as she tried to perceive the sight of her friend as old as she was. She must have felt an immeasurable pain; she stayed there, unmoving, letting the tears roll down her indigo cheeks.

Callum felt himself choking back his own tears and clutched at his scarf. He thought of his mom, and how heartbroken he was when King Harrow told him of her passing. He could only imagine Renata’s suffering: finding love in someone, having them and holding them, and then losing them because of a choice — a decision — that could have prevented this outcome.

“Renata?” Joan said softly. Her lips turned up into a smile. “I take it you didn’t mean to leave me behind.”

Renata folded her arms on the bed and laid her head down, sobbing softly to her friend. Joan stroked her hair tenderly behind her horns. They sat quietly like this for a few moments, after which Renata lifted her head. Her dark face was flushed with color, and the shimmering star-like features that outlined her cheekbones seemed to glint brighter upon this new shade. 

“I cannot believe I’ve missed your whole life,” she said after a moment. “I so wish I could have been by your side, through your joys and through your sorrows.”

She paused and looked down at the small water stain her tears left on the bedsheet. “I saw the potential for a life of happiness in you when we first met… Tell me, Joan, did you end up finding your happiness? Did you find a passion? A companion — a partner?”

Joan still clung to her unwavering smile. It seemed like she was overjoyed she could see her old friend one more time — she bore no resentment toward her. Her eyes were kind and patient.

She reached her shaking hand to the bedside table and pulled open its drawer. Inside was a thick black book with no title nor author, seamlessly leather-bound, but fraying at the edges. She tried to pull it out of the drawer herself, but couldn’t manage the weight of it. Renata instinctively grabbed the book for her and gently closed the drawer. She set the book on Joan’s lap and let her pull back the cover.

Callum squinted at the book. It looked like a book that Claudia had been reading one day while he was out in the courtyard back in Katolis.

“Do you remember how we built that device that allowed me to look at the stars?” she asked. 

Renata nodded slightly. She began sifting through the pages — they were filled with intricate illustrations and descriptions of celestial bodies on different days of the year over the course of her life. The book contained the position of every star in the sky, every planet, every distant galaxy, everything that she could see from that lens she had crafted with her.

“I charted the stars nearly every day,” she said, stopping on a dog-eared page. 

Her hand ran over the illustration of a constellation cluster that closely resembled that on Renata’s left wrist. Renata noticed this resemblance and ran her hand over her arm — Joan never forgot their first encounter.

“I waited for your return, of course, but I eventually gave up hope that you would ever come back. But I mapped the stars for as long as I could; this fascination with the cosmos was what I loved most.”

Renata felt tears come to her eyes once again. She couldn’t have been more proud.

“But don’t think that I sat around here my whole life after I gave up on you!” she said more spryly, holding up a finger to Renata. “I ventured north in my younger years to visit my father in the summers and once came across that bird over there.”

She looked over to the bird, who was getting plenty of love from her daughter.

“She was very adamant that she stay by my side. Apparently she is from the far eastern coast of Xadia, and her species is called the ‘golden-tailed night raven.’ Their golden feathers shine the brightest when their power from the sun is the weakest. Many believe that they store the sun’s energy during the day and release it at night. She has been my companion for at least thirty years now.”

Renata smiled and let a halfhearted laugh escape her lips as Joan closed the book and set it beside her. She was glad that a companion found her.

“As for my husband… He died many years ago due to his poor health. Fortunately, I have our beautiful daughter, Joanna, to keep me company and take care of me when I’m sick. Without her, I would probably have been long-dead by now!”

Callum looked at Joanna and then to his Renata. She was watching Joan’s face intently, but turned to him when he looked up at her. He said nothing, but his surprised expression made her lips turn up into a smile. Callum shook away the astonishment from his face and focused back to her memory. Joan’s face had now dulled, and Renata’s was still intent on the story of her life.

“Now, I have to ask, Renata,” Joan said, clasping her hand as firmly as she could manage around Renata’s. Their hands trembled lightly together. “Why did you leave me?”

Renata lowered her head and hesitated to respond. She shook her head. “I did not mean to. By no means did I want to.”

She let go of Joan’s hands and reached into a pocket of her robes for the shard of zireon. When she pulled it out, the soft glow from the bird’s tail refracted off of the smooth facets of the stone and cast dazzling rays around the ceiling and walls. Joan’s eyes widened at her unveiling of the stone.

“I meant to give this to you for your tenth birthday,” she said quietly. “But it seems I do not fully understand the principles of time, and I will forever regret my mistake. But I would like you to have this, for whatever time you have remaining in this world.

“I call this mineral zireon, although I do not know if it is named otherwise. I found that it protects itself from primal magic on other worlds, and I had hoped it would work here on Earth. Now it seems I have lost your entire life on this one gamble... Even if I earn your forgiveness, I will never accept my own.”

She opened Joan’s hand and tucked the stone in her palm, then wrapping her fingers tightly around it. She looked over to Joanna, who had stopped petting the bird to focus in on the reason Renata left her mother.

“When my friend’s time has come, I want you to look after this stone,” she said to her. “I hope there will never be tensions again between the Human Lands and the Xadian, but if there are, you will have something to protect yourself.”

Joanna nodded haphazardly, still bitter at Renata's return. She turned back to Joan and clasped the hand that held the stone. Joan smiled warmly at her.

“If it isn’t too much of a burden, I would like you to look after my companion while I'm gone,” Joan said softly. Her eyes were fluttering closed; she was starting to wear down from all of the excitement. “Her name is Celeste, but I wish you luck trying to get her to respond to that. She is stubborn and defiant, but she has a tender heart.”

Renata nodded and smiled. “Of course, my friend.”

Callum looked over at his Renatta, who was waving her arm through the air to move on from this time of the memory. Before he could oppose, they were no longer in the golden-lit bedroom. They now stood on a grassy hill, looking down at the small city. 

“Wait —” Callum interjected, now looking around at the different scenery.

The skies were gray, but the sun forced its light through the clouds in patches over the plains. It smelled like rain once again, but the ground was not yet damp. There was a strong breeze that pulled the scent eastward, and birds that exploited the current to soar just out of reach of the clouds.

“I stayed by her side until she passed,” Renata said, gazing off at the city. “She was only alive for another week. In the subsequent time, I helped console and comfort Joanna until she felt ready to go off on her own; she was just as headstrong as her mother. She told me she was planning to travel the continent. I traveled with her and Celeste through the now-Human lands for about a year. She did not much care for me at first, but after a few months together, I believe I started to grow on her.

“Her personality was, not surprisingly, exactly like her mother’s, and I found myself falling in love with her the longer we traveled together. Every instinct I had told me that my feelings for her were not reasonable and they would only tie me down to this world as they did with her mother.”

She looked up to the sky, revealing her stubborn tears to the clouds. As she paused from her story, Callum watched a single tear roll slowly down her cheek and stop just after her cosmic markings. Just then, a few raindrops began to disguise her tears and soon littered the grassy hills with hundreds of tiny droplets

“I told her of my feelings, and she resented me thereafter. She reminded me of how I stranded her mother when she was young, and I tried to tell her that it was how Joan’s life was intended — that Joanna wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my disappearance. She left me in a rage, and I never saw her again.

“I came back once to Elarion many years later, but the city was gone… As if it only ever existed as a crumbling foundation of abandoned ruins. I’ve read books on the history of Elarion and they say it was burned down out of hatred and vengeance toward the first dark mage by Sol Regem a few years after the start of the wars.”

Callum watched her carefully. Her eyes were dark, but her expression was not one of bitterness; she seemed to be lost in thought, and finally coming to terms with her choices.

“Thank you for showing me this,” he said sincerely, touching his scarf. “It really makes me see the Star arcanum differently. I’m really… sorry for how awful your past was.”

She lowered her head and smiled to herself. “I appreciate your condolence… Are you ready to head back?”

Callum nodded. She drew the strange new rune in front of her and grabbed his hand tightly.

“ _Vitae vide_.”

…

The sun was just as low in the sky as when they left. Joanna appeared from over the east side of the cliff of the mountain and circled the summit once before landing on Renata’s outstretched arm. She landed gracefully and fluttered up to Renata's shoulder.

“I suppose you understand now why I call her Joanna.“ She looked down at Callum and smiled as they unclasped their hands. “She’s my Joanna, continuing to explore this world while I explore the stars. The piece of Joan that I will hold close to me for as long as I can.”

“Again, I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Would it be weird if I asked you for a hug? I’m going to —”

As Renata held up her hand to deny his request, she felt his awkward embrace around her, squishing her hand in between them and upsetting the bird on her shoulder. She stood there uncomfortably for a few seconds until she saw Rayla walking slowly toward them from the top of the steps.

“Good morning, Rayla,” she said, struggling to escape Callum’s grasp.

Zubeia climbed up behind her and unveiled her wingspan. Callum let go of Renata at the mention of Rayla’s name and turned to her. He saw Ez and Soren climbing up the steps with Bait trailing just behind.

“What is going on, Rayla?” Zubeia asked.

“B-but —“ she stammered, nervously trying to understand what she saw. “They were just —”

“Hey, it’s okay, Rayla,” Callum said gently. He was now walking toward her reaching out his hand to reassure her that he was on her side. “Everything’s fine.”

“Don’t coddle me! I know what I saw —” she started backing away from Callum as he inched toward her. “My hand went right through you… It was like you were a ghost…” 

Renata saw the opportunity to chime in. “I am terribly sorry if that frightened you, Rayla. Callum was off on a little adventure to the past with me — you do not need your body when you’re in the past.”

Rayla put her face in her hands and shook her head. “Argh, okay, fine. I’m sorry I made a fuss.” She raised her head. “But we leave today because of this, you got it? I’m not putting up with any more of your weird 'Star arcanum’ shenanigans.”

She started to storm off back to the terrace as the others watched in confusion.

“No, but, Rayla! Wait —” Callum pleaded.

“No buts!” she called back to him angrily as she rounded the second flight of steps. “We leave in an hour!”

He hung his head in defeat. Zubeia shook her head and smiled as she took off back to the den; there was much to prepare for. Zym eagerly accompanied Ezran, Bait, and Soren back to the terrace as well to supposedly get packed for their journey back to Katolis today. Renata gave Joanna a good few chin scratches as Callum turned back to her.

“Thanks again for teaching me what you could,” he said dismissively. “I wish I had more time to learn, but —”

“Callum, time is a relative abstraction of your mind,” she interrupted. “Make the choices that will set you down the path you want to create for yourself. We living beings are all a part of a larger scheme, but we can dictate how we maneuver through it.

“And remember, we never need to let go of people or materials, but we need to accept that if we choose to hold on to them, they may get left behind. It is one of the hardest concepts that I have come to know, but it is one that I will never forget. I hope you make the right decisions on your journey.”

Callum beamed up at her and Joanna before he turned to go back to his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you all enjoyed my story. I have made some edits to make it flow better, and now it's... kind of a different story. But it's better this way. It's possible I may still edit.
> 
> There's a possibility I may continue this story in the present (or even as future seasons come out), but I'll think on this for a while. I guess it also depends on whether or not people are actually interested in it.


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